A new study published in Nutrients from the University of Coimbra has shown that caffeine, polyphenols and other natural compounds contained in coffee reduce the severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in overweight adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D). can help to do. , NAFLD is a collective term for liver disorders caused by a build-up of fat in the liver. This can lead to liver fibrosis, which can progress to cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) and liver cancer.
NAFLD is not the result of excessive alcohol consumption, but rather the result of an unhealthy lifestyle, often with little exercise and a high-calorie diet. Study participants with higher coffee intake had healthier livers. Subjects with higher caffeine levels were less likely to have liver fibrosis, while higher levels of non-caffeine coffee components were significantly associated with lower fatty liver index scores. The study suggests that for overweight T2D patients, higher coffee intake is associated with less severe NAFLD1.
The researchers surveyed 156 middle-aged borderline-obese participants, 98 of whom had T2D, on their coffee intake, and provided 24-hour urine samples. It was used to measure caffeine and non-caffeine metabolites – the natural products of the body breaking down coffee. For more defined, quantitative data on coffee intake, this method follows a recent shift to analyze urine rather than self-reported consumption.
Caffeine intake is associated with a reduction in liver fibrosis in NAFLD and other chronic liver conditions. It has been suggested that other coffee constituents, including polyphenols, reduce oxidative stress in the liver, in turn reducing the risk of fibrosis6 as well as improving glucose homeostasis in both healthy and overweight subjects7,8. All these factors can reduce the severity of T2D. The study’s corresponding author, John Griffith Jones, PhD, senior researcher at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, commented: “The modern diet and lifestyle changes have led to an increase in obesity. Both T2D and NAFLD The rate and incidence, which may eventually develop into more serious and irreversible conditions, can be a burden on health care systems. Our research is the first to look at whether higher cumulative amounts of both caffeine and non-caffeine metabolites in urine are associated with less severe of NAFLD in overweight people with T2D.